Wednesday, December 02, 2009

The 25 Posts of Christmas: Have A Hip Christmas

A little over two years ago, I was hanging out in Santa Monica and happened into a little hole in the wall record store. They carried the usual small record store fare so I wasn't that impressed. However, when I took a look at their Christmas section, my eyes bugged out of my head. I spent more money than I had originally intended and went home with a great stack of cool Christmas records. One of those records sported a cartoon drawing of a bearded man and was titled, "Harry The Hipster Digs Christmas". When I turned the cover over and read the back, it sealed the deal. The Harry The Hipster in question was none other than Harry Gibson, the original rock and roller. Harry the Hipster was known for his unique, wild singing style, his energetic and unorthodox piano styles, and for his intricate mixture of a hardcore, gutbucket boogie rhythms with ragtime, stride and jazz piano styles. He had several hits in the forties that featured impressive piano playing that would rival the soon-to-be-pioneers of rock such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. His career went into a tailspin in 1947, when his song "Who Put the Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine" put him on the music industry blacklist. His own drug use led to his decline but in the early 1970s, Harry's songs were revived by Dr. Demento, particularly "Benzadrine" which was included in his 1975 compilation album Dr. Demento's Delights. It gave Harry the boost he needed to start recording again. His first "comeback" album was none other than Harry The Hipster Digs Christmas. It is obviously something Harry recorded at home on the fly. The lyrics go off on tangents and the drummer (when there is a real drummer as opposed to the drum machine) is chasing the rabbit the whole time. There are the traditional Christmas songs done in a complete non traditional form and there's even an original tune, "I Wish My Mother-in-law Don't Visit Us This Christmas". This is a great treasure that I'm sure you will love just as much as I do! Here is "Harry The Hipster Digs Christmas". Enjoy!

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